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Chuck Wendig’s Horror Crime Novel Thunderbird Arrives Later this Month

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The upcoming novel Thunderbird, from Chuck Wendig, is a relaunch of his beloved Miriam Black series, focusing on a whole new story arc. While technically it’s the fourth book in the saga, it serves as the start of a new trilogy so we thought it would be a great entry point for horror readers who might not yet have been exposed to the series.

Per publisher Simon & Schuster/Saga, not only is the book “gritty and fun”–Miriam is a character who digs her claws into you and won’t let go–it’s a special blend of genre that author Wendig affectionately calls “horror crime.” It has a thriller feel mixed with a supernatural element… what more could you want?

Thunderbird arrives February 28th, and you can pre-order it now from Amazon, where you’ll also find an excerpt from the book.

Synopsis:
In the fourth installment of the Miriam Black series, Miriam heads to the Southwest. She is in search of another psychic who can help her with her curse but instead finds a group of domestic terrorists and the worst vision of death she’s had yet. Miriam is becoming addicted to seeing her death visions, but she is also trying out something new: hope.

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Johnny Frank Garrett’s Last Word (2017)

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Johnny Frank Garrett’s Last WordDirected by Simon Rumley

Starring Devin Bonnée, Sean Patrick Flanery, Erin Cummings, Mike Doyle


It says something about our legal system that wrongful imprisonment is deemed curse worthy. Such a lauded position reserved for desecrated sacred burial grounds, wronged women driven to suicide, and satanic rituals also applies to the cold indifference of our legal system. Hell, sit me in a cell for a few years for some shit I didn’t do, and I might consider selling at least a partial equity stake in my soul for some vengeance.

Now I don’t believe in ghosts and shit, but if someone was going to come back from the grave for some spectral retribution, Johnny Frank Garrett would be a great candidate. Executed in 1992 for a crime he almost certainly didn’t commit, what happened to him is ripe for a future season of “Making a Murderer.” Just 17 at the time of his arrest, he was accused of raping and murdering a nun. The only evidence of his guilt was a written confession that he never signed, fingerprints found on the scene, and a “vision” from the local police psychic.

The defense would never call any character witnesses and would fail to bring to light that Johnny’s fingerprints were in fact all over the convent. A victim of domestic abuse, he would frequently spend time at the convent helping out to avoid his violent home life. He even moved the very furniture his fingerprints were found on. Further grievances like unreliable testimony from expert witnesses, a questionable medical examiner, disappearing exonerating evidence, and a social sentiment closer to a lynching than a trial would seal Johnny’s fate. With an IQ under 70 and a defense team set on getting this over with as quickly as possible, Johnny was executed on February 11, 1992. Did you even need me to mention that this was in Texas?

It’s all very well catalogued in the 2008 documentary The Last Word. Though clearly heavily editorialized and woven with an uncomfortable Jesus-ey vibe, it’s a fascinating crime story with a paranormal twist. In the last 10 minutes of the film, it’s revealed that on the day of his execution, Johnny left behind a promise that those who wronged him would meet terrible ends. Since then, an uncanny number of those involved in the trial have died. It’s the perfect mix of fact and superstition that turns coincidence into curiosity. You don’t expected a crime story to be so spooky.

Johnny Frank Garrett’s Last Word takes all the crime and supernatural stuff and flips the proportions. The trial is dealt with in the first 15 minutes, in a Texas community theater abridged rendition of 12 Angry Men. But instead of saving an innocent man, they execute a mentally handicapped teenager. So yeah, Texas.

Fast forward 11 years, and Johnny Garrett now looks like Charles Manson. Word to the wise, if you want people to think you didn’t murder someone, don’t look like Charles Manson. A group of spectators witnesses the execution, with the obligatory mumbling of “burn in hell” just to let you know who the assholes are. As the clock ticks down and the switch is flipped, the poison is injected. If you’re fixing to play predictable horror trope Bingo with this one, let me just go ahead and tell you to mark off the box for “jolts up screaming for a jump scare right before dying.

So boom, the curse is out there, and the first two victims drop. Despite some hokey acting and rushed exposition, I was still pretty on board at this point. The double nasal pencil faceplant suicide bought significant good will. Which the film immediately lost again through intolerable child acting. And then gained back again with some interesting editing. And then lost again with a massive over reliance on it.

Meanwhile, protagonist and good guy juror Adam Redman’s (Doyle) son starts complaining of visions reminiscent of the Johnny Frank Garrett case. After being found late one night beating a bush with a stick (bizarrely a relevant detail to the Garrett case), he’s diagnosed with a previously unknown heart condition. Adam soon surmises that this must be the work of the curse, and his role on the jury is responsible for his son’s affliction. His quest begins to discover the truth, clear Johnny’s name, and save his son.

From here, the movie is mostly a montage of convenient revelations and budget Jacob’s Ladder creepy shaking heads. Things all happen without much emotional consequence, due in equal parts to the discombobulating pace and underdeveloped characters. Every time something scary happens, it’s because that’s the point in the script something needs to happen to remind us that this is a horror movie. This isn’t helped by the scares themselves being just not that scary. There are only so many spooky faces screaming at me in rapid succession I can take before I get bored.

And yet, I really hate shitting on it. In a market saturated by jump scare bullshit, I appreciate a movie that does something different. The spooky shit is best described as aggressively surreal. The tight editing makes for some really interesting shots, especially during the dialogue segments. It keeps you on edge, visually interested in ways that the script just fails to do. The actors do their best to sell some truly terrible writing, and you have to hand it to actors who can earnestly pull off lines like, “Kiss my ever lovin’ ass!

I also respect that Johnny Frank Garrett’s Last Word did its best to stay true to the historical facts. From the chant outside of the courthouse to some of the methods of death, they did an admirable job of weaving fact into the fiction. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come together into believable rules for the film. The curse itself seems to target at random, with no uniform method of killing. One victim gets a shotgun flipped into his chest, and another just falls down the stairs. By the end, Adam is just straight up wrestling with the ghost. Freddy Krueger might have killed people in all kinds of wacky ways, but at least it had to be in your dreams. With Johnny Frank Garrett, it just seems to be whatever’s most convenient at the time.

I’m not one to decry filmmakers for trying to sexy up historical details. It’s just that the original details were way sexier than what they came up with. Call me a square for liking true crime stories, but I was far more captivated by the regular old The Last Word. Johnny Frank Garrett’s Last Word is a decent enough mid-budget supernatural horror flick. There’s just only so much I can like something that doesn’t live up to the source material.

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Adrienne Barbeau is NOT Starring in Jeepers Creepers 3

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Some news was circulating recently that The Fog star Adrienne Barbeau had joined the cast of Victor Salva’s Jeepers Creepers 3. However, it seems that this was premature and Barbeau has taken to her Facebook page to reveal that she has no intention of being a part of the film. That being said, she states that she’s read the script and calls it “great“, adding, “…if you liked the first two, you’ll love this one.

According to CinemaRunner the full cast joining Brandon Stacy, Gina Philips, and Jonathan Breck is as follows:

Chester Rushing (“Stranger Things“), Ryan Moore (Pitchfork), Patrick Thomas Cragin (“How to Be a Vampire”), Brandon Smith (“From Dusk Till Dawn”), Gabrielle Haugh (Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?), and Justin Hall (Django Unchained) co-star. Stan Shaw, Michael Papajohn, Megan Elizabeth Wright, Jason Bayle, Cade Burk, Joyce Giraud, Jordan Salloum, Don Yesso, David Davis, Casey Hendershot, Thomas Francis Murphy, and Carrie Lazar also have roles in the production.

The third film sees Philips return as Trish, who now worries that years later, the Creeper (once again played by Jonathan Breck) will take her son, just as it did her brother. Her solution is to go after the Creeper herself.

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Shut In (Blu-ray / DVD)

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Shut InStarring Naomi Watts, Charlie Heaton, Jacob Tremblay

Directed by Farren Blackburn


Beginning last November, Shut In came and went from theaters in the blink of an eye, grossing less than $7 million domestically over 8 weeks.  Nothing about the psychological thriller looked to elevate it above a paint-by-numbers tale about a woman losing her grip on reality in a remote, snowy locale.

But it stars Naomi Watts, who always seems game to return to the horror genre now and again, along with two young actors who are pretty popular at the moment (Charlie Heaton of “Stranger Things” and Jacob Tremblay of Room, Before I Wake, and the upcoming The Predator) so when the Blu-ray arrived, I decided to give it a look-see.

Watts portrays Mary Portman, a child psychologist who works from home, a large, meandering house with a detached office in a rural part of Maine. She’s recently widowed and cares for her stepson, Stephen (Heaton), who was severely injured in the car crash that killed his father and is unable to communicate or fend for himself.

Mary seems a bit frazzled by it all; but she gamely keeps up her practice, becoming especially attached to one patient, Tom (Tremblay), a young deaf boy who, she’s just learned, is being sent to a group home. This knowledge feeds into her guilt that her husband and Stephen only got into the accident because they were fighting about the couple sending the boy away to school since he had become too much for them to handle. On top of that, she’s now planning to place Stephen in a facility in order to provide for his long-term care.

So, yeah, all this family drama is going on; but meanwhile, weird things are happening at the house… Tom shows up out of nowhere in the freezing night, and then, just as mysteriously, disappears. Of course a blizzard is heading their way, and a search is launched to find him with Mary fearing that he’s already dead. She hears odd noises and has a couple of frightening experiences that end up being dreams – or are they? – and there’s where my attention started to drift.

But then it took a turn, and wait a minute… are we watching a possibly Shining-esque ghost story now?  That kept things humming along for a bit; and as the third act kicked things into high gear, the filmmakers flipped the script on everything we thought we knew and turned it into a full-blown “WTF just happened?” good time! Unfortunately, to say anything more would derail that good time for anyone else so I’ll just wrap up with some of the other reasons why Shut In is worth a watch.

First and foremost is Watts.  With Heaton virtually comatose and Tremblay silent throughout, the bulk of the story rests totally on her shoulders.  She gives her all and gamely carries it as Mary runs a gamut of emotions and is put through some grueling, rather invasive physical torture at one point in the film.  Her co-stars that do verbalize, Oliver Platt as a caring doctor that she Skypes with for consultation and support and David Cubit as the father of one of Mary’s other patients with whom she tentatively tests the dating waters, both add welcome respites of normalcy.  Poor Mary is so self-contained and secluded that as a viewer, I was just glad to see her have some real human interaction.

But those moments are few and far between as director Blackburn (a veteran of TV series like “Daredevil,” “The Interceptor,” and “Luther”) keeps the tension and suspense ramped up. He manages to capture the isolation felt by not only Mary, but also Stephen and Tom, with gorgeous shots of the frosty scenery supplemented by long stretches of taut silence.

Screenwriter Christina Hodson is to be commended as well for turning the tables on several tropes. But again, I can’t elaborate without spoilers so I’ll just say she and Blackburn can be found in the featurette “Nightmare vs. Reality: Imagining Shut In” with more info on how everything came together on the project. The other extra, “House on Delphi Lane: A Classic,” is, as its title suggests, a look behind the scenes at a location that truly is a character in and of itself.

While Shut In might have met a chilly reception at the box office, it should find a warmer response on home video. If you welcome it in from the cold, once you make it through its slow-burn beginning that lulls you into a false sense of familiarity, you’ll be rewarded with a finale that takes some risks as it plays out its twists.

Special Features:

  • Nightmare vs. Reality: Imagining Shut In
  • House on Delphi Lane: A Classic

BUY IT NOW!

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Zak Bagans Acquires the Infamous Dibbuk Box for Haunted Museum

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If you’re a fan of the paranormal, you should be well aware of the “dibbuk box” that gained infamy from a 2004 story in the Los Angeles Times. It went on to spawn the movie The Possession, and now it’s been acquired by one of the most famous names in the haunted memorabilia biz: Zak Bagans, who plans to add the box to his Haunted Museum.

Per TMZ, Zak bought the wine cabinet allegedly haunted by a dybbuk from the guys who lent its evil backstory to the 2012 horror film. “Dybbuk” literally means “an attachment, a cleaving to something”; a dybbuk is thought to be the spirit of a person who, instead of drifting into the next realm, sticks around and enters the bodies of living people.

This particular item is commonly known as the “world’s most haunted object,” which explains why Zak reportedly paid tens of thousands of dollars for it. However, don’t expect to see it opened up for the public when touring his Las Vegas-based Haunted Museum.  According to TMZ, he’s genuinely too terrified to do that. But if you’re brave enough – and over 18 – you’ll be able to sign a waiver to view it.

Zak’s massive Haunted Museum, set to open soon, will also hold such oddities as an actual mummy, Peggy the Doll, Michael Jackson’s death scene chair, Ed Gein’s cauldron, Dr. Jack Kervorkian’s van, a throng of working antique mechanical dolls, and much more.

For more info visit “Ghost Adventures” on Travel Channel, and “like” “Ghost Adventures” on Facebook. In addition be sure to follow @GhostAdventures, @Zak_Bagans, @JayWasley, @AaronGoodwin, and @BillyTolley on Twitter using the hashtag #GhostAdventures.

The Haunted Museum

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Horizon Zero Dawn (Video Game)

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Developed by Guerilla Games

Published by Sony Interactive Entertainment

Available Exclusively on Playstation 4

Rated T for Teen


Horizon Zero Dawn is what you would get if you mashed together Far Cry: Primal, Blood Dragon, and Red Dead Redemption. If that sentence was enough to get you fully erect, then congratulations, you already own Horizon Zero Dawn. Chances are, you already know if Horizon is your kind of of game. It’s a big open world loaded with sidequests, collectables, challenges, and some crafting. It’s the kind of massive game that you dump dozens of hours into, even if you aren’t sure why exactly you’re scooping up every last collectible doohickey.

Personally, I’m not automatically sold on a game just because of its scale. I used get all wide eyed at the promise of limitless exploration of a huge living world, but 6 years of World of Warcraft has since permanently scratched that itch. I prefer my games now to be tight and driven. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the effort it takes to make a map that rivals rural Texas but with significantly more to see. I’m just the kind of guy who got bored 3 hours into the sandbox full of gunpowder that was Just Cause 3. Hell, I never even played Grand Theft Auto V. Do I think that they are bad games? Certainly not. Do I regret not playing them? Not at all.

So far the game has received near unanimous praise (except for the people saying the game is racist, which is dumb). To just list off the reasons it’s great and give it an A+ would be acceptably par for the course. So am I going to be a rebel and say that everyone else is wrong and that the game is actually a hot trash fire but with more charred robot bodies? Nah, I’m not that much of an edgelord. What I’m saying is that even as someone who doesn’t gravitate towards these kinds of games, I thought Horizon Zero Dawn was fantastic.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, since I don’t see how hunting robo-saurs in the primitive apocalypse future could go wrong. You play as Aloy, an Outcast of the Nora tribe. Born shunned by her people, her only companion is her guardian and surrogate father Rost. Despite Rost holding firm to the rules and faith of the tribe, Aloy can’t find two shits to give about the faith or people that have turned their backs on her. All she wants to know is why. If she can prove herself worthy, she’ll be accepted into the tribe as a Brave and be given the answers she desires.

Horizon Zero Dawn

I was born to light giant robots on fire with exploding arrows!

On the day of her Proving, things don’t go quite as expected. Aloy finishes the trial strong, but plot happens and she’s forced to leave the Nora’s sacred lands to hunt for more answers. She’ll travel far and wide, meeting tribes like the Carja, Oseram, Banuk, and several others. Across Horizon’s many areas, the environments are as diverse as the people that inhabit them. From the icy peaks of the north to the towering spires and deep woods of Meridian, there’s as much to see as there is to do in Horizon Zero Dawn.

The diversity in climates helps keep Horizon interesting, because you will be doing a lot of walking. It’s an inevitable fact that open world games will be comprised of a good deal of hoofing around looking for stuff to do. Horizon alleviates this considerably with fast travel campfires, liberally applied to every piece of the map you might have need to revisit. There are seriously some campfires across the river from other campfires. You need to use a consumable fast travel pack to take advantage of this teleportation, but the packs are easy enough to craft and you eventually are given access to an unlimited version.

Horizon Zero Dawn

Although nothing can save you from the massive amount of tracking quests. Get ready to follow a lot of purple breadcrumbs.

I’m going to be deliberately vague on the plot. If you know the premise, you can make some educated guesses. Some time ago the world ended, and people now live on a scale from stone to bronze age. In addition to wild game like boars, foxes, and turkey, an entire ecosystem of machines also roam the earth. These machines act like animals, grazing in herds or hunting for prey. Aside from just making for a really cool setting, there is a purpose to it all that is revealed as the game goes on. I have to applaud Guerilla on their expertly crafted story, as some of the twists and turns really did take me by surprise. You probably guessed the broad strokes already, but some of the finer details really moved me. This is a surprisingly beautiful and tragic game.

Horizon Zero Dawn

At crucial junctions, you’ll be given the option between compassion, anger, and acting like a robot wearing a human suit.

But hey, who am I kidding? You aren’t here for the story. You’re here for the robot fights! I can confidently say that this is the best robo-animal hunting simulator on the market. I’m not really sure how to judge hunting games, since I’m personally not a fan of rubbing deer piss on my boots and sitting in a tree stand for three days. From what I can tell, most hunting games just ramp up the pace by 10,000% and are sure to plant a deer directly in your crosshairs. Most of the subtlety and craft are lost in this approach.

Horizon Zero Dawn manages the best of both worlds, combining complex planning with breakneck speed and brutal combat. Larger enemies especially will require a good degree of planning and familiarity to overcome. Imagine if you will that you’re tasked with hunting a tyrannosaurus with a bow and spear. Calling the weaponry primitive is a bit misleading, since your arrows can also shoot lightning/fire/ice/explode, and you have a number of other weapons like a bomb slingshot and tripwires to give you the advantage. On the other hand, the T-Rex you’re being asked to hunt also has laser cannons, dual machine guns, and drone strikes. So yeah, you’re going to want to have a game plan.

Horizon: Zero Dawn

Sometimes, a game plan just means a shit load of traps.

There are 25 different machine enemies in the game (thanks Wikipedia!), ranging from standard melee trash mobs to the aforementioned laser-rex. The middle-tier enemies can put up a fight even at max level, and the strongest foes can take minutes to overcome. The general game plan is to isolate a weak point and target it for maximum effect. These weak points generally fall off after a certain amount of damage, so you’ll have to hit a few different ones to win. Most of the machines are also armored, requiring you to strip away their defences before dishing out the damage. There are elemental weaknesses to take into account, allowing you to disable enemies and deal more damage.

Horizon Zero Dawn

This is what my end game arsenal looked like. Not pictured here are most of the elemental weapons, which at this point I couldn’t be bothered to use.

If you take the time to study your prey, you’re given all the information you need to overcome any foe. It’s just up to you to act on it. The difference in efficacy between just throwing arrows wildly and planning an attack is incomparable. You will not be able to beat Behemoths or Thundermaws without strategic attacks. Mid level nuisances like the big ostrich assholes can be taken down well enough by just shoving arrows in their face, mostly due to big easy to hit weak points directly on their chest. The only enemy that really stands out to me as intolerable were the Glinthawks. Fuck you Glinthawks. Fuck you right in your stupid exploding icetank.

Horizon Zero Dawn

Every moment fighting these little flying dicks is agony.

It’s undeniably awesome to set up a bunch of explosive traps, knock off the machine’s armor with Tearblast arrows, freeze it with some bombs, and finish it off with a firm stab to the dick. That being said, Horizon Zero Dawn‘s combat isn’t perfect. Most glaringly, some of the hardest enemies are made significantly easier by the presence of detachable heavy weapons. Early on you are introduced to the Ravager, a towering tiger-like foe that can tear you apart with either its jaws or mounted laser cannon. What should be a terrifying foe quickly becomes the key to an easy fight. You can knock off the cannon and use it yourself, which can fell several Ravagers before running out of ammo. I actually cleared out the highest level Corrupted Zone by just dragging two cannons to the fight and unloading. Nothing even got close to me. I like the idea, but it reduces the difficulty significantly.

Secondly, weaker enemies are stupid. It’s way too easy to just lure them one by one into a bush and push the stealth kill button. As long as you are in a bush, basically nothing can see you. Several times I would kill at least a dozen enemies by sitting in the same bush and whistling. Enemies can be alerted to dead bodies, but won’t raise the alarm for it. So as long as you chill and just keep stabbing when people get close, you’re gold.

Horizon Zero Dawn

Good thing I’m in this knee high grass, or else someone might notice me leaping up and shoving a spear into a robot’s face!

Lastly, as awesome as the fights can be, they get tedious after a while. You’ll get into a rhythm, and after that fights just become a chore. The actual main campaign and side quests mix it up enough to stay interesting, but just running around is a hassle. I’m cool fighting a Snapjaw to rescue a merchant’s daughter, but taking a few minutes out of my day to take one down just because it saw me from across the river is irritating. The drawback to the robust combat complexity is that none of these fights are easy. After the 500th Glinthawk, you’ll be begging for a one-shot Glinthawk-slayer bow.

Horizon Zero Dawn also very much suffers from open world game syndrome. Any character you meet, no matter how interesting, will not see more than an hour of screentime. I get that the draw is supposed to be the massive world, but I want more time with Erend damn it! He was cool! The revolving cast are all interesting enough to draw me into a side quest, but that’s it. When the big reunion happens at the end, I was struggling to figure out just who I should care about.

My final piece of criticism has to do with the collectibles. I might not be a fan of these types of games, but I can spend days hunting for baubles if it means I get a shinier bow. There are loads of collectibles in Horizon, ranging from random text logs to scattered metal flowers. There’s usually a logic to it, like the ancient vessels being in ruins or the vantage points being in hard to reach spots. There are merchants in the main city Meridian who will trade you these items for special reward boxes, full of resources and a few rare modifications. Let me be clear, this is total bullshit. The modifications they were giving me were the same kind I would find on a high level enemy. By the game’s end, I had more money than I knew what to do with and enough materials to craft my entire arsenal ten times over. Collectibles are supposed to reward you with something special, a new piece of armor or even some cosmetic reminder of your accomplishment. Just supplementing your inventory with shit you can get off of a Behemoth is lame.

Horizon Zero Dawn

Ironically, you can mostly ignore these.

Ultimately, most of my grief with Horizon Zero Dawn is that I just wish there was more of it. I wanted more quest rewards, more time with these characters, more machines to kill, more to explore. I want to keep diving in and see what else this world has to offer. That being said, if I want more and not less, then Horizon must be doing something right. Though the actual quests, towns, and crafting are pretty shallow, the depth to the combat and story easily make up for it. Even when the game was at its most tedious, I was still blowing up robots with lightning arrows.

So even if you aren’t into big open world games, I’d say give Horizon Zero Dawn a shot. There’s nothing else out there like it. I’m curious as to what they are going to do with the sequel. I appreciate them setting their sights modestly on this first one (I wouldn’t want another No Man’s Sky situation), but it’s clear to see where there is room for improvement. Congrats Guerilla Games on your new successful franchise! Now get to work on the next one, I want to play it.

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Kong: Skull Island (2017)

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Kong Skull IslandStarring John Goodman, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, John C. Reilly

Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts


Get ready for some explorer horror with the latest in a long line of King Kong movies, Kong: Skull Island, from director Jordan Vogt-Roberts (The Kings of Summer) and scribes Dan Gilroy (best known for writing and directing Nightcrawler) and Max Borenstein (Godzilla). While it’s one of many to riff on the story of the gargantuan gorilla since the original opus of 1933, it emerges among the most entertaining. (Though I must admit to having a soft spot for the schlocky 1976 version starring Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, and Jessica Lange.)

Although most of the action is set in the early 1970s (there’s a blaring jukebox of classic acid rock with a whole lotta John Fogerty), the opening frames of the film feature a fight between two World War II soldiers – one American and one Japanese – that’s so exciting you might wonder if your knuckles could get any whiter. But that is, indeed, just the beginning of an ever-mounting action-packed adventure.

The story begins in earnest when government researcher Bill Randa (Goodman) gets his superiors to sign off on an expensive, unorthodox expedition. A mishmash of scientists, soldiers, and pencil-pushers unite to explore a mythical, uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean that Randa insists hides sinister secrets that his troop will succeed in uncovering.

Cut off from everything they know, their mission of discovery becomes one of immense danger; and they are soon forced to escape from a primal world where modern-day man does not belong. Not to mention modern-day woman – Brie Larson is sorta-kinda the Fay Wray of the picture, but fortunately she’s not subjected to any amorous advances (not from the ape or her ostensible love interest, played by Tom Hiddleston).

Larson is Weaver, a seasoned war photojournalist and peace activist, while Hiddleston plays Captain James Conrad, a former British SAS officer and current soldier of fortune. She shoots with her camera, while he totes a military rifle. So does the cast’s other heavy-hitter, Samuel L. Jackson, as Packard, a hawkish Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army. He leads a bold and brash entrance into Skull Island’s airspace with a hail of helicopters, a bevy of bombs, and a score of soldiers to announced their arrival. Kong is not amused, and the carnage commences.

Kong himself is a CGI creation (sorry, Harryhausen purists!), but he looks similar to the simian of the original film, with just a few flourishes to make him more menacing. He’s imbued with an air of intellect but isn’t anthropomorphized in any way. The hulking beast is seen early on and throughout – you definitely get your popcorn’s worth. There’s a fantastic fight between the island’s strongest monsters that’s sure to leave fanboys breathless. (Oh, and yes, kaiju buffs, there’s something here for you, too.)

When it comes to the human characters in Kong: Skull Island, I thought they were all well-drawn as far as backstory and personality traits – even though a good number of them provide blood-n-guts for bloodthirsty cinephiles, none are cardboard cutouts. (And yes, they all die spectacularly.) John C. Reilly, in particular, adds depth and dimension to the tale as Ralph Marlow, a WWII solider who was stranded on Skull Island back in the 1940s.

I saw an early screening in 2D, so I can only imagine how much more exciting it’s going to be when it’s released in 3D and IMAX 3D. Although it’s rated PG-13, it certainly pushes the boundaries – there’s some cursing, eviscerations aplenty, and fairly intense moments of suspense (it’s on par with the Jurassic Park films in terms of gore, but turned up just a notch). Older kids will definitely be first in line to see Kong conquer all.

While I can’t say yet whether Kong: Skull Island is the spectacle of the season, it certainly does provide giant-sized entertainment, violence, and thrills.

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Alien: Covenant 2 Script Already Written: Shooting in 2018?

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The sci-fi/horror film Alien: Covenant hasn’t even hit theaters and it seems that Fox and Ridley Scott are already prepared to begin work on a sequel. According to a set visit and interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, Scott revealed that not only is there a script written for a sequel, it was finished while he was working on Alien: Covenant

He explains to the site, “You’ve got to assume to a certain extent success and from that you’d better be ready. You don’t want a two-year gap. So I’ll be ready to go again next year.

Considering that the plan was to make Prometheus the first in a trilogy of prequels that lead up to the 1979 classic, that means we might get to see third entry by 2019 or 2020, after taking into account production, post-production, marketing, and eventual release. My only hope is that this means we’ll also get a chance to see Neill Blomkamp’s Alien 5 done afterwards. While learning the origins of the Xenomorphs is undoubtedly fascinating, I grew up with Ripley and I would love to see a fitting and meaningful end to her storyline.

Synopsis:
Ridley Scott returns to the universe he created, with ALIEN: COVENANT, a new chapter in his groundbreaking ALIEN franchise. The crew of the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world. When they uncover a threat beyond their imagination, they must attempt a harrowing escape.

Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, Carmen Ejogo, Amy Seimetz, Jussie Smollett, Callie Hernandez, Nathaniel Dean, Alexander England, and Benjamin Rigby star. Look for it everywhere on May 19th.

Recently, a prologue video of the crew enjoying what is called their “Last Supper” was released. You can watch it here.

Alien Covenant

Alien Covenant

The post Alien: Covenant 2 Script Already Written: Shooting in 2018? appeared first on Dread Central.


Get Eggsecuted on Easter Sunday; DVD Available This Month

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As if the diabetes risk involved with eating a ton of chocolate eggs wasn’t bad enough, the Easter Bunny will be going on a murderous rampage this Paschaltide in director Jeremy Todd Morehead’s Easter Sunday, which hits DVD and Digital on March 14.

The film stars Jeremy Todd Morehead and features Robert Z’Dar (Maniac Cop) and Ari Lehman (Friday the 13th).

Synopsis:
A group of hard partying teenagers set out to raise some hell. Instead, they raise the DEAD.

It’s been 24 years since the deranged serial killer Douglas Fisher was executed by police on Easter night, and his gruesome story became a terrifying urban legend. Then, during a drunken campfire ritual, a group of teens accidentally conjure the spirit of Douglas Fisher… aka the bunny masked killer! Unless they can stop him before midnight on Easter, the evil bunny slasher will tear their town and everyone in it into pieces.

So lock your doors and hide, or there will be no candy in your Easter basket – just the limbs and body parts of your family and friends! Doug Fisher kills everyone in sight; if you’re not careful, he’ll take your head this Easter night.

The post Get Eggsecuted on Easter Sunday; DVD Available This Month appeared first on Dread Central.

Twin Peaks “Missing” Posters Show Up in Australia: Here’s What Calling the Number Gives You

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We’re approximately two-and-a-half months away from Showtime’s revival of “Twin Peaks”, the David Lynch/Mark Frost murder mystery series that aired in the early 90’s and captivated audiences the world over. Personally, it’s my most anticipated event of the year as I have long been a fan of the original series. Something about the charming characters, the hypnotic and gorgeous music, and the captivating story drew me in and never let me go. Just like with other fans of the series, I’ve been left for decades with an unsatisfying ending, one that raised more questions than it answered, and it left me begging for more, crying out for more to what felt like an endless deafness from television executives. But no more! Sunday, May 21st, sees the return of that delightful show and you better believe I’ll have my ass planted on my couch and my phone and laptop shut off so that I can devote every ounce of my attention to the premiere!

Now, we’ve all known that this series is coming. Hell, it’s been in the news for almost two years! But with the premiere locked down, marketing has really begun ramping up and it seems that folks in Australia have begun seeing missing posters for Laura Palmer pop up here and there. Attached to these posters is a fun number that plays a pre-recorded message for anyone who calls it. Soundcloud user void as gave the number a ring and then recorded the message, which featured a “Twin Peaks” staple: a backwards message. Playing it in reverse, it reveals itself to be the giant man saying, “It is happening again.” You can give the recording a listen below.

The 18-part limited event series “Twin Peaks” will debut with a two-part premiere on Sunday, May 21st, at 9PM ET/PT. Immediately following the premiere, Showtime subscribers will have access to the third and fourth parts, exclusively across the network’s streaming service, SHOWTIME ANYTIME, and SHOWTIME ON DEMAND. In its second week, “Twin Peaks” will air the third and fourth parts back-to-back on the linear network, starting at 9 p.m. ET/PT, followed by one-hour parts in subsequent weeks.

About “Twin Peaks”:
The critically-acclaimed television phenomenon “TWIN PEAKS” returns as a limited series to Showtime in 2017. “TWIN PEAKS” is written and produced by series creators and executive producers David Lynch and Mark Frost and is directed entirely by David Lynch.

While the full mystery awaits, fans can expect many familiar faces, including Golden Globe winner and Emmy Award nominee Kyle MacLachlan, who reprises his role as FBI Agent Dale Cooper, plus Lynch as FBI Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole.

Widely considered one of the most groundbreaking and influential broadcast series of all time, “TWIN PEAKS” followed the inhabitants of a quaint Northwestern town who were stunned after their homecoming queen, Laura Palmer, was shockingly murdered. The town’s sheriff welcomed the help of FBI agent Dale Cooper, who came to town to investigate the case. As Cooper conducted his search for Laura’s killer, the town’s secrets were gradually exposed. The mystery that ensued set off an eerie chain of events that plunged the inhabitants of Twin Peaks into a darker examination of their very existence. Twenty-five years later, the story continues…

The post Twin Peaks “Missing” Posters Show Up in Australia: Here’s What Calling the Number Gives You appeared first on Dread Central.

Jughead: The Hunger One Shot Comic Arriving in Late March

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So, any of you guys watching “Riverdale”? It’s a bit light on the horror, but the murder mystery it revolves around is really heating up. And my favorite character so far is definitely Jughead… who, coincidentally enough, is the subject of a new Archie Horror single-issue comic: Jughead: The Hunger.

The highly anticipated one shot is set to launch in comic shops and digital storefronts on March 29th. It’s written by Frank Tieri with art by Michael Walsh and Jack Morelli. Walsh also provided the cover, with variants by Francesco Francavilla and Robert Hack.

Check out a preview below, and then head over to TFAW to pre-order your copy.

Synopsis:
Jughead Jones has always had an insatiable appetite… but what if his hunger came from a sinister place?

When a murderous menace is on the prowl, taking the lives of some of the most well-known and esteemed inhabitants of Riverdale, Jughead and his family’s dark legacy comes to light.

Cover by Michael Walsh

Variant Cover by Robert Hack

Variant Cover by Francesco Francavilla

The post Jughead: The Hunger One Shot Comic Arriving in Late March appeared first on Dread Central.

M.F. Wahl and A.J. Brown Release Joint Novelette with Two Formats and Titles to Choose From

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M.F. Wahl occasionally provide us with reviews and interviews so you may be familiar with the name, but she’s also a #1 Wattpad featured horror author in her own right. We’re pleased to share the news that M.F. has joined A.J. Brown, whose stories have appeared in over 200 publications, for an experimental project that we have more details about right here!

The two writers teamed up for a novelette with two short stories and some artwork. Nothing strange about that, right? Here’s where things get interesting… they’ve each released their own versions, with slightly different names and different covers. The stories and art inside are the same, but in a different order.

Wahl’s is titled The End Is All We See, while Brown opted for All We See Is the End. See their covers below. And… if you subscribe to either writer’s newsletter by the end of this week, you can get the eBook for free!

The following is a description of Wahl’s release; you can order it here and also learn more about Brown’s version here.

The End Is All We See Synopsis:
From the minds of A.J. Brown and M.F. Wahl come two horrific tales of struggle and loss you won’t soon forget.

“Run for the Flame” takes us into a world where an ice age has engulfed everything, driving life underground. The Sanctuary holds the last vestiges of humanity, but its walls are cracking and the ice is slowly encroaching. In their last grasp at survival, the community is forced to send their boys on an all-important run for the flame… none has ever returned.

In “Purple Haze” a crash landing on an uninhabited planet strands Adira and the surviving members of her crew. Surrounded by a quiet world of blue grass and purple skies, danger lurks within the beauty. Without contact to Earth and light years from home, they encounter a treacherous enemy that threatens to destroy them from the inside out.

Wahl and Brown use their easy styles to draw you in and hold you close. Welcome to their nightmares.

The post M.F. Wahl and A.J. Brown Release Joint Novelette with Two Formats and Titles to Choose From appeared first on Dread Central.

Todd McFarlane Promises Spawn Reboot Will Be “Dark-R”

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Over a year ago, Todd McFarlane stated that he had completed a script for a reboot of Spawn, the comic he created and which saw a movie adaptation 20 years ago. The plan was to make a film that was low-budget so that McFarlane would direct it and to give it a far darker and edgier appearance than what we previously saw.

Speaking with Peel the Orange, he explained, “I’d put it more into horror/suspense/supernatural genre. In the background, there’s this thing moving around, this boogeyman. That boogeyman just happens to be something that you and I, intellectually, know is Spawn. Will he look like he did in the first movie? No. Will he have a supervillain he fights? No. He’s going to be the spectre, the ghost.

At this point, it seemed like we weren’t going to hear anything more and that the project was essentially treading water, neither sinking nor swimming. However, in a new video over on Twitch, McFarlane shows that he’s still 100% committed to a Spawn reboot and that the performances of both Deadpool and Logan are spurring him to go for a “Dark-R” rating.

Mimicking a left-to-right gauge, McFarlane states, “If here’s PG-13 and here’s Deadpool and here’s Logan, we’re going to be here.” The crowd seems to love this idea, which I am in agreement with. There can absolutely be comic book movies aimed at children and teenagers. However, there are countless adults who have grown up with comics for decades and they deserve the chance to see the more violent and visceral stories hit the screen.

The post Todd McFarlane Promises Spawn Reboot Will Be “Dark-R” appeared first on Dread Central.

John Goodman and Brie Larson Talk Kong: Skull Island

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Set in the 1970s, Kong: Skull Island follows a team of explorers and soldiers who travel to an uncharted island in the Pacific, unaware that they are crossing into the domain of monsters, including the mythic Kong. John Goodman plays one of the hunters, while Brie Larson is a war photographer hired to photograph the expedition.

Dread Central: Brie, what was your most difficult scene?

Brie Larson: I’m trying to think, I feel like it’s less about a particular scene and more about the experience as a whole because it’s like running in an obstacle course for ten hours a day every day. It’s a lot of movement in this film, I think there’s only one scene where we’re standing still, talking, so you see us walk through a scene, and maybe it’s thirty seconds in the movie but that means it’s probably a whole day of us climbing up that hill or running through that boneyard so it was really taxing on the body in a way, I had never experienced that before. I’ve experienced mental drain but I’ve never gotten to that point where you’re pushing yourself to the limit, it’s amazing what your body can do, it’s fun.

DC: How did you prepare for this role?

BL: I trained, Legendary got me a trainer and so I just started training and I trained before when I did Room but it was a different kind of training. For Room it was just about trying to get myself wiry and small and for this it was actually about bulking up and you sync so well with your body when you have that type of strength.

DC: Were you fans of monster movies growing up?

John Goodman: I had a poster of King Kong in my house.

BL: Shut up, that’s my line.

JG: I had a model of King Kong when I was a child.

BL: You did? Well that’s a new tidbit, you’re just bringing it up now?

JG: Man, you have to pace yourself in these things, you’ve never done a junket? No, I had all the Universal models, Frankenstein, Werewolf, Phantom of the Opera.

BL: Phantom of the Opera?

JG: Yeah, they’d put it out so suckers like me would buy it.

DC: John, even though he’s after Kong, your character doesn’t seem all bad…

JG: I thought he was a dick with ears. Yeah, the more I worked on the guy the less I liked him. He was easy to play, he had issues from the Japan war which is kind of fun to base something on, use your imagination on.

DC: Brie, how does it feel to have Kong save you?

BL: It was green screen.

JG: Was it liberating?

BL: So my interaction with Kong was a tape mark…

JG: You didn’t have a big hand?

BL: No, we didn’t have a big hand. There was like a foam pad I laid on so I don’t know. I don’t really know the logic of how I get out of his hand.

DC: Is there something about being attracted to not playing the classic heroine?

BL: Yeah, I think that’s one of the reasons why I did this, to turn this allegory on its head a little bit and to respond to the fact that we’re in a different time right now and I think we’re ready to see a different type of female hero. What’s interesting about Weaver is that yeah, she’s strong and she’s tough but she’s sensitive and that’s her strength, is that she’s using her heart and her humanity to actually save all of them in the end, and it doesn’t take all of this running around and brute force and explosions and guns, it actually just took having the simplest of connections, that’s what saves their lives and I think that’s an incredible message.

DC: How do you talk about being cast in a Marvel film, or something like this?

BL: I didn’t talk to them about it, mostly because the whole thing feels so big and secretive, I didn’t want to talk to anybody about it, I was too scared that they had tapped my house and would come and find me if I said it out loud. I think that for me, I believe that just seeing women be strong and tough is not answering the question of what a female hero looks like. I think that women have their own set of skills that are worth exploring and seeing onscreen. I feel like it’s too easy to say oh, we’ll just change the name of this female character to a male and have her do all the same things a male does. I don’t believe that, I think there’s something else, I think there’s more to women than that and so Mason is a great example of that and Captain Marvel will be another great example of that, exploring deeper, how do women lead and how is that different and unique.

DC: How tough it is mentally working with a green screen?

BL: Well, you have really weird conversations with your director that are very different than with other films. With other films you’re playing off of another person and you’re talking about like well, they said it this way and that made me react in this way and can we change that dynamic, with this you’re starting from a complete unknown so when a creature pops up you have to go well, what does it look like, what do its eyes look like, does it look like it’s going to eat me or does it look like it’s going to be nice to me or does that change, how close is it to me, how tall is it, what kind of animal can we describe it like, it’s just like all of these unknowns you’re just not used to dealing with before because it’s all imaginary, it’s not like we had video or anything to see it, you just have to be on the same page. There were the tennis balls but what does that mean, what do the tennis balls mean? Are they’re mean tennis balls in there?

JG: It’s something that I’ve been doing since before I was a professional, we did it in plays in a church basement, you had to use your imagination and that’s always been, that’s where I live every day anyway. You know, how much water is in its mouth, what does it smell like, it’s just fun, how bad is it going to hurt when he steps on me.

DC: Brie, do you have any real experience taking pictures, and did you use a real camera?

BL: Yeah, I used a Leica in the film and I personally had not used a Leica before so I didn’t take photos with that because I didn’t know how that would turn out so instead I used the camera I had, which was an 81 Program, it’s a Canon and I’d taken photography classes years ago and had learned how to develop film and was excited to get into it again. I try and find some sort of meditative hobby to do and it’s different for every film and on my down time I don’t like reading on set because it feels like your taking yourself out of your role instead of being present.

JG: Yeah, you’ve got to keep snapping back, it takes too long to come back… You’re on that goddamn iPhone every five minutes. Yeah, you took a lot of pictures. I started taking pictures because she was taking so many pictures, it was like hey, I better get hip.

BL: So I started taking photos as a way of staying connected and keep my mind active so my camera bag got pretty heavy by the end because I wanted it to be legit, so I had all my extra lenses, all the film and all the stuff in my bag and I had wardrobe sew in all of these extra pockets in case people didn’t get the logic of, how is she getting all these roles of film, these infinite rolls of film, it’s those tons of pockets, all those bags, lots of stuff happening in there. Very quickly I learned that the bags are really heavy, the cameras are really heavy which is why training became so helpful because you’ve got like ten pounds of weight hanging around your neck, so I started taking photos and then realized I cannot just go get these developed, these are top secret, behind the scenes photos so I reached out to Legendary and said, what if we made this a thing and I took actual photos as this character, I’ll do some you can see behind the scenes but most you won’t see any of our crew, they’ll just be real photos and they were into it, so we had our own secret back and forth, sending them the rolls of film and they had their own top secret lab they were developing them in. I don’t know if you’ve been to that room, the ones that I’m in I didn’t take obviously but the ones I’m not in I did take, that was actually my first time seeing them, I had no idea they were blowing them up so I got kind of emotional seeing them.

JG: Where is this? In the press room, no shit.

BL: Yeah, they were so amazing, they were like, just so you know, the lighting’s not right so we’re getting gallery lighting. Gallery lighting? Really? And I took them, me.

JG: Were you up in a helicopter?

BL: Yeah, I took a lot in the helicopter.

DC: Did you enjoy shooting in Vietnam?

JG: I loved it. I was totally, pardon the word, exotic to me. Well first of all we’re camped out in downtown Hanoi, the hotel was very Westernized but getting out and just getting lost and digging the hive of people and the smells, the food, just unbelievable. The crews are so nice, to get to work we’d have to take water shuttles and the women would paddle with their feet or the under caves, they had some great caves too, especially when we were out by the lake house, it was just beautiful.

BL: Also at that point, once we were in Vietnam, I feel like we traveled every three days or every week, we were in a new part so we were in a lot of different areas in Vietnam.

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ Kong: Skull Island reimagines the origin of the mythic Kong in a compelling, original adventure from director Jordan Vogt-Roberts.

Kong: Skull Island stars Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson, John Goodman, and John C. Reilly. The international ensemble cast also includes Tian Jing, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, John Ortiz, Thomas Mann, Shea Whigham, Toby Kebbell, and Eugene Cordero.

Vogt-Roberts directs the film from a screenplay by Max Borenstein, John Gatins, Dan Gilroy, and Derek Connolly. To fully immerse audiences in the mysterious Skull Island, the director, cast, and filmmaking team filmed across three continents over six months, capturing its primordial landscapes on Oahu, Hawaii; on Australia’s Gold Coast; and finally in Vietnam, where filming took place across multiple locations, some of which have never before been seen on film.

Kong: Skull Island will be released worldwide in 2D, 3D in select theaters, and IMAX beginning March 10, 2017, from Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Synopsis:
A diverse team of scientists, soldiers, and adventurers unite to explore a mythical, uncharted island in the Pacific, as dangerous as it is beautiful. Cut off from everything they know, the team ventures into the domain of the mighty Kong, igniting the ultimate battle between man and nature. As their mission of discovery becomes one of survival, they must fight to escape a primal Eden in which humanity does not belong.

Kong: Skull Island

 

The post John Goodman and Brie Larson Talk Kong: Skull Island appeared first on Dread Central.

Find Humanity a New Home with Mass Effect: Andromeda Trailers

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With Horizon Zero Dawn and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild both eating away at your personal life, the last thing you need right now is another AAA open world game to turn you into even more of a recluse. Too bad because developer BioWare’s Mass Effect: Andromeda is being released on March 21st so kiss goodbye what little free time you had left.

To promote its space opera epic, EA has created a new series of videos, each of which focuses on a specific element of the game, in addition to a bunch of trailers.

Mass Effect: Andromeda ran into a spot of controversy when one of its developers refereed to it as “softcore space porn,” only to quickly retract his statement. Like its sibling series Dragon Age, Mass Effect has never shied away from sexual themes so we’ll see how far Andromeda pushes the envelope later this month.

And if alien sex isn’t your thing, there’ll still be some bigass monsters to kill.

The post Find Humanity a New Home with Mass Effect: Andromeda Trailers appeared first on Dread Central.


Horror Comedy Attacked on Set Ready to Be Experienced on Blu-ray/DVD

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Promising “nothing but a hair-raising good time,” Attacked on Set looks to be the perfect cult film to watch over and over when you have the need to be squeezed.

We have the film’s release details, several stills, the trailer, and more below!

From the Press Release:
This is more than just a film about a killer on the loose. Attacked on Set is an EXPERIENCE!

It started out with three guys setting out to see how much they could do with the constraints of a recession and a national economic meltdown. The whole process, from the idea draft to the rewrite on the walls of the office, was completed in six months between producing commercials and music videos and dealing with the wacky schedules of everyone involved.

The project was written and directed by Tom Novell (Return of the Skin Eaters — Director of the Year 2011) and includes work by director of photography Joel Warren and executive producer Forrest Warren. Alicia Clark, Joshua David Evans, and Dominic Ryan Gabriel star.

Laugh at it because it is campy… scream at it because it is scary… it’s meant to purely entertain you. Attacked on Set arrives in a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack on March 21st. Click here for pre-ordering info from LC Films; and you’ll also find it on Vimeo On Demand.

Special features include: Behind-the Scenes Featurette, Interviews, and Audio Commentary.

Synopsis:
A group of young, hot new actors and crew move production to a new studio in a remote area of a Midwest town. All of your favorite characters are here!

Little did they know, but the killer has a score to settle when everyone on set is stranded in the remote studio with a van that has run out of gas and no cellphone service. No one is immune, not the treehugger, land developer, or news crew covering a nearby construction project infringing on the habitat of an endangered bird species.

Just when you catch your breath from steamy on-set encounters, you will be gasping for air when the killer picks off the crew one by one and carves up their bodies for his own deviant pleasures. Just when you believe all is lost, the heroics of the local cop changes the plans of the killer (or is he acting alone?).

Attacked on Set is a horror comedy that is sure to have you squirming in your seat, covering your eyes, and laughing out loud. When these girls lay down, things stand up. Attacked on Set is a perfect mixture of comedy, gore, and campiness with lots of boobs and blood.

 

 

The post Horror Comedy Attacked on Set Ready to Be Experienced on Blu-ray/DVD appeared first on Dread Central.

Supernatural Horror Novel A God in the Shed Coming This Summer

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This summer Inkshares will debut J-F. Dubeau’s gripping horror novel A God in the Shed. A brilliant mélange of suspense and the supernatural, the chilling thriller should appeal to “True Detective” fans as well as readers who enjoy Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and Clive Barker.

Pretty high praise, right? Well, before it was even completed, last fall the partial manuscript set off a bidding war for the TV rights, culminating in a deal with Skydance. Academy Award winner Akiva Goldsman will be helming the adaptation.

Dubeau says that what we can expect to find in A God in the Shed is “a world where beauty and horror dance with each other, tricking the reader into thinking one is the other and vice versa, blurring the line between both. I want to present a cohesive world where even the most fantastical elements are grounded in plausibility. The story unfolds in a reality where even science is the result of magic.”

Most of all, however, the novel, which serves as the first part of a trilogy, is “the story of the individual residents of Saint-Ferdinand and the few outsiders who come into their lives. Living or dead, everyone plays a part in the grand ballet of events that bridges the past and the present.”

Look for it in bookstores and online outlets beginning June 13th. Pre-orders are open now!

Synopsis:
The village of Saint-Ferdinand has all the trappings of a quiet life: farmhouses stretching from one main street, a small police precinct, a few diners and cafés, and a grocery store. Though if an out-of-towner stopped in, they would notice one unusual thing―a cemetery far too large and much too full for such a small town, lined with the victims of the Saint-Ferdinand Killer, who has eluded police for nearly two decades. It’s not until after Inspector Stephen Crowley finally catches the killer that the town discovers even darker forces are at play.

When a dark spirit reveals itself to Venus McKenzie, one of Saint-Ferdinand’s teenage residents, she learns that this creature’s power has a long history with her town―and that the serial murders merely scratch the surface of a past burdened by evil secrets.

The post Supernatural Horror Novel A God in the Shed Coming This Summer appeared first on Dread Central.

Wonderful Mash-Up Video Blends the Works of David Lynch Into Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining

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This video may be a couple of years old but it was recently sent by its creator to Dread Central and we couldn’t resist posting it for all of you to see!

Richard Vezina put together a wonderful mash-up video that blends the works of David Lynch into the story of Stanley Kubrick’s book-to-film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining. However, Vezina didn’t take the easy way out and simply edit footage together to make his point. Rather, he used some amazing video trickery to put characters from one into the other world. For example, you’ll see Jack Torrance in the Black Lodge from “Twin Peaks”. And you know what? It looks damn fine!

Now, before anyone goes and starts thinking that this is a statement that Lynch would’ve done King’s book a better adaptation, Vezina explains:
With this mash-up, I didn’t mean to insinuate at all that The Shining would have been a better movie had it been directed by David Lynch! The Shining IS a masterpiece, after all. The only goal of this mash-up is to entertain people. David Lynch has his own unique style, and I integrated excerpts from his movies to the Shining for fun only. Kubrick and Lynch are both geniuses, and their movies are self-sufficient. I’ll say it again: do not take this mash-up seriously!

Give the video a watch below and let us know in the comments what you think! Also, below the video is a challenge to find certain easter eggs. If you can track them down, let us know as well!

Synopsis:
What would The Shining look like had it been directed by David Lynch? Would it be a dream or a nightmare? Blue Shining combines both worlds in a playful manner by integrating elements from Lynch’s films into Kubrick’s movie to give the Stephen King classic a Lynchian atmosphere. Can you find all the hidden items, including the blue key from Mulholland Dr.?… Enjoy!

The post Wonderful Mash-Up Video Blends the Works of David Lynch Into Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining appeared first on Dread Central.

Netflix is Going to Stir a Lot of Nostalgia With The Toys That Made Us

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As a child of the 80’s, I grew up with a veritable smorgasbord of action figures being marketed towards me. Transformers, G.I. Joe, Star Wars, He-Man, Ghostbusters, etc… The list can go on and on but I feel like I should get to the point.

Netflix full well knows the power of nostalgia, what with their reboot of “Fuller House” and the smash success of “Stranger Things”. Now they’re going to capitalize on that same nostalgia but not in the world of fiction. Rather, they’re creating their own original documentary series titled “The Toys That Made Us”, which will explore the stories and foundations of some of the aforementioned figures.

There’s no official release date but the Facebook page states that we’ll be seeing this eight-part series in 2018.

The post Netflix is Going to Stir a Lot of Nostalgia With The Toys That Made Us appeared first on Dread Central.

SXSW 2017: Take Another Look at The Honor Farm

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A fresh batch of stills has been released for Karen Skloss’ new film, The Honor Farm, and we have them for you ahead of the flick’s SXSW premiere! Dig it!

The Honor Farm (World Premiere)

Director/Screenwriter: Karen Skloss

Cast: Olivia Applegate, Louis Hunter, Dora Madison, Liam Aiken, Katie Folger, Michael Eric Reid, Mackenzie Astin, Michelle Forbes, Josephine McAdam, Christina Parrish

Synopsis:
After prom night falls apart, Lucy finds herself at very different kind of party… on a psychedelic trip that could be a dangerous trap.

SXSW Screenings:

  • Saturday, March 11th, 11:55pm, Stateside Theatre (World Premiere)
  • Monday, March 13th, 11:45pm, Alamo Lamar D
  • Tuesday, March 14th, 9:45pm, Alamo Lamar B
  • Thursday, March 16th,12:15pm, Alamo Lamar B

Honor Farm

Honor Farm

Honor Farm

Honor Farm

Honor Farm

The Honor Farm

Honor Farm

The post SXSW 2017: Take Another Look at The Honor Farm appeared first on Dread Central.

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